Computing properties from 3-D imaging

A two-dimensional slice through a shale. The dark areas are the pores. The white spots are high density framboidal pyrites. The gray areas are siliceous minerals. The light gray areas are carbonate minerals.Analysis of reservoir rock samples has long been regarded as a cumbersome process requiring costly coring operations, increased drilling risk, and time-consuming physical lab experiments. Shales are particularly difficult to measure using physical methods as a result of the rocks’ small pore sizes. But Ingrain, a startup oilfield service company, has achieved a technical breakthrough by applying advanced...